This Exhibition

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London has one of the greatest collections of European decorative art of the 17th and 18th centuries, from the miniature to the monumental. The exhibition presents a series of themes encapsulating important aspects of courtly life in Europe. It begins with an opening section looking at power and patronage in Europe between 1600 and 1800, presenting key figures from European courts who were great patrons of the arts. The subsequent sections focus on four different aspects of courtly life: the importance of war; the role of religion; the peaceful arts of the domestic interior and the magnificence of personal adornment.

This exhibition is the Gallery’s second instalment of the Great Collections of the World series.

Princely Patronage presents the key figures who were the great patrons of the arts in Europe between 1600 and 1800, and some of the most sophisticated objects that circulated around European courts.

Power and Glory explores how representations of war were used to decorate objects commissioned for courtly use, from armour and weapons to tapestries and paintings.

Religious Splendour reveals the nature of objects made for worship, commissioned by secular or ecclesiastical patrons for public or private devotional use.

Display in the Interior presents furniture, textiles and ceramics made for use in the home, either for decorative or social purposes.

Fashion and Personal Adornment reveals the care and attention aristocratic men and women took to dress in fashionable style from head to toe.